Grave vault cover



E. G. YOCHHEIM Dec. 27, 1932. I

GRAVE VAULT COVER Filed Jan. 6, 1931 gwmnto o Patented Dec. 27, 1932UNITED sTArEs PATENT OFFICE EDWARD G. YOCHHEIM, OF RITTMAIN, OHIO,ASSIGNOR TO THE OHIO BOXBOARD GOMPAEY, OF RITTMAN, OHIO, A CORPORATIONOF OHIO GRAVE VAULT COVER Application filed January 6, 1931. Serial No.506,985.

This invention relates to grave vault covers, that is to say, wrappersor containers in which the grave vaults may be enclosed. for protectionwhen shipped.

The grave vaults referred to are of the type employed as protectivecontainers for coffins, and replace the ordinary rough wooden box. Thesegrave vaults are customarily made of sheet metal, preferably sheetsteel, and have their outer surfaces finished to produce an ornamental,attractive appearance. They may be polished, plated, enameled, painted,lacquered or otherwise appropriately treated to produce this exteriorfinish.

In order to protect the finish of these grave vaults when they areshipped, it is the practice of the manufacturers to enclose them infibreboard containers or covers which ordinarily comprise a longitudinalwrapper member passed around the whole length of the vault and wired inplace thereon, and end pieces having tuck-in flaps which latter areinserted between the wrapper and the sides of the vault to hold the endpieces in place, the meeting edges of the ends of the wrapper and of theend pieces being exteriorly taped to exclude foreign matter.

It has been found that grave vault covers thus constructed and appliedare not entirely satisfactory, due to the fact that, because of playbetween the wrapper members and end pieces, or from other causes, theends of the grave vaults become chafed and their finish thus marred.

It is the object of the present invention to so construct and applygrave vault covers that this chafing and marring will be done away with.

To this end the invention consists in a grave vault cover comprising awrapper member arranged longitudinally of the grave vault and held inplace thereon by bands of wire or other suitable material, this wrappermember extending to the ends of the grave vault and terminating adjacentthereto, the ends of the wrapper member being provided with flaps orextensions adapted to be folded in against the ends of the grave vault;and end pieces applied against these flaps out of contact with the endsof the grave vault and secured to the wrapper member, as will beexplained more fully hereinafter and finally claimed.

In the accompanying drawing illustrating the invention, in the severalfigures of which like parts are similarly designated, Figure 1 is aperspective view of a grave vault having the cover of the inventionapplied thereto, parts being broken away in the interest of clearness.Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of one end-of the wrappermember illustrating the formation of the flaps. Fig.

3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 but showing the flaps folded in. Fig. 4 isa perspective view of one form of end piece. F ig. 5 is a perspectiveview of a modified form of end piece.

The grave vault 1 shown, is of a conventional type having an arched top2, and relatively plain vertical sides 3 and ends 4, and the grave vaultcover is made of a size to fit the vault with which it is to be used andis so formed that it will substantially conform to the shape of thevault and fit same relatively snugly.

The wrapper member ofthe cover is preferably made of a single piece ofrelatively stiff, form-retaining fibreboard suitably scored or creasedlongitudinally at 5 and 6 so that it may be readily bent to form a top 7and sides 8 and 9 which, when the wrapper member is in proper positionupon the vault, willproperly embrace the top 2 and sides 3 thereof andextend the full length of such top and sides. No covering is providedfor the bottom of the vault, and none need be, because the bottom is notfinished and need not be protected.

Both ends of the wrapper member are provided with tabs or flaps 10, 11and 12 forming parts of the top 7 and sides 8 and 9 respectively, andthese flaps are adapted to be folded in substantially flat against theends of the vault, as indicated in Figs. 1 and 5 3. In order that theflaps 10 of the top 7 may not overlap or bunch when folded upon thecurve of the arch of the vault, they are separated by notches or wideslits 1.3. The extent of the flaps 10, 11 and 12 is defined by scores orcreases 14., 15 and 16 which facilitate their proper folding.

Bands or straps 17 of wire or other suitable material are passed aroundthe vault and wrapper member and appropriately secured to hold thewrapper member in adjusted position.

After the wrapper member is thus applied, with the end flaps folded inagainst the ends of the vault, the end pieces, either of the form shownin Fig. 1 or in Fig. 5, are applied, and all edges taped, as indicatedat 18, Fig. 1, with suitable gummed tape to exclude dust, grit and otherforeign matter.

The end pieces of the form shown in Fig. 4 have a body portion 19 andside flaps 20 and 21 foldable upon creases or scores 22 and 23, whereasthose of the form shown in Fig. 5 comprise merely a flat piece 24. Bothforms are shaped to conform substantially to the shape of the ends ofthe vault, and they are made, preferably, of fibreboard like the wrappermember.

Then the form of end piece shown in Fig. l is used, it is applied withits body portion 19 fiat against the flaps 10, 11 and 12 and affixedthereto by means of a suitable adhesive, and its side flaps are appliedto the outside of the sides 8 and 9 of the wrapper member and similarlyaflixed thereto, and all the edges are taped, all as illustrated in Fig.1.

Vhen the form of end piecesshownin Fig. 5

is used, it is applied and affixed to the flaps 10, 11 and 12 byadhesive and all edges are taped. It will be apparent that if the flaps10, 11 and 12 are omitted, as is the case with covers of known typeshereinbefore referred to, the end pieces when applied will contactdirectly with the ends of the vault and any movement between them andthe wrapper member, and hence between them and the ends of the vault towhich the wrapper is relatively fixedly applied, will result in chafingand marring of the ends of the vault. This is particularly true in caseforeign substances have intruded.

It is to be noted, however, that in the cover of this invention theflaps 1 0, 11 and 12, which are preferably integral with the wrappermember, carry the end piecesand support them out of contact with theends of the vault. Thus, inasmuch as the Wrapper member and its flaps10, 11 and 12 are substantially fixed relatively to the vault, there canbe no chafing of the vault and it will not be marred or defaced.

Various changes and modifications are considered to be within the spiritof the invention and the scope of the following claim.

What I claim is 2- A grave vault cover, including a wrapper memberofsuch form as to extend longitudinally of the vault from end to endthereof and having portions to cover the top and EDWARD G. YOCHHEIM.

